We don't have to rush into things: COA's Edulji on Supreme Court judgement

We don't have to rush into things: COA's Edulji on Supreme Court judgement

COA member Diana Edulji said she was happy about Supreme Court's order on BCCI reforms and revised constitution.

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Rasesh Mandani

Mumbai

August 10, 2018

UPDATED: August 10, 2018 16:39 IST

Diana Edulji said Supreme Court's judgement was fair and a right step (PTI Photo)

The Supreme Court has delivered its judgement and upheld the new BCCI constitution submitted by the Committee of Administrators (COA) following some revisions. This now paves the way for the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to return to democracy after the revised constitution is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act in thirty days.

It also marks the beginning of the end of the COA's nineteen month stint so far during which they made some significant decisions like giving cricketers, selectors, umpires, scorers pay hikes as well as upgrading the players' contract system. However failing to enforce the Supreme Court order on Lodha reforms, they were constantly accused of exceeding their brief and meddling in BCCI's day to day affairs.

COA member Diana Edulji takes some of these questions from India Today...

Q. Diana Edulji, your initial thoughts on the order which has come a year and a half after your committee was appointed?

A. It's been some time now since we got into this. We wanted to implement it quickly but there were lot of appeals and we got stuck. I am happy the final order is out now. We are still reading through it and seeking legal opinion. But there is a clear road map now to get these things implemented as soon as possible so that we can have a new BCCI functioning as soon as possible.

Q. The court doing away with 'one state one vote' was not unexpected after requests from all quarters. But how do you read the decision to relax 'cooling off clause' which now allows an office bearer to stay in office for two consecutive terms?

A. There were suggestions for cooling off period to be wiped out completely also. In all fairness, two terms is good enough. One term would have been a little short that's my personal opinion. You need a bit of continuity. But I think two terms is fair enough and a right step taken by the Supreme Court.

Q. So you don't agree it's dilution of the original order?

A. I don't think two terms is a dilution of the first order. It's just to broad-base the situation and take the consideration to have a good functional BCCI and state associations. In that respect it's a fair judgement.

Q. You have been a player yourself. So you would not be surprised with the number of selectors being revised to five with the work load before them?

A. Yes. It was becoming difficult with the number of matches increasing, the no of tournaments increasing, both men and women with three selectors. It was getting a bit impractical and now with five it will be eased a bit. There will be less pressure on selectors.

Q. What are the immediate implications though? Can the current three member selection Committee continue to pick teams?

A. We donn't have to rush into things. The legal will be looking into the order. And we have to get the new constitution under Tamil Nadu Societies Act. It will take some time. As and when we get legal advice, we will decide. If we have to take urgent steps, we will do so.

Q. You have scheduled interviews for women's head coach on Friday. The order says head coach of any Indian team will be picked by the Cricket Advisory committee.

A. I will have to send this point across to legal as well as Mr. Vinod Rai, if we can go ahead with the women's head coach interviews. But we need to get the coach in place too. One option is to continue to have the interim arrangement, we currently have.

Q. You are right that the new coach needs to be in place soon. This is a World T20 year for the women's team.

A. And before the World T20 we go to Sri Lanka as well. So the new coach has to be in place with the team and strategise with the team. One has to get to know the team. So it's important. Also the selection committee has to be in place to pick the men's and women's team. It has to be something we have to look into quickly. If possible we have to take decisions because until new constitution is framed, these things will have to be looked into properly. We can't rush things either which leads to problems later.

Q. I know you still have a job to do to oversee implementation of new BCCI constitution. But how do you look back at the stint so far? One could see from the outside there was a lot of acrimony between the COA and office bearers.

A. It's part of life. You have acrimony on the cricket field too. It's a game. As a player I never bothered about all this, I was going to do my job. Now most importantly, the slog overs are on and we have to finish the job.

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